Friday, 14 October 2011

Weddings at Sea - How much?! Find out with our exclusive comparison chart!

A big traditional white wedding at home can cost an arm and a leg, so it's not surprising that more and more couples are choosing to get married abroad or at sea.

Not only does a cruiseship wedding offer great value for money, but for those of us who hate planning it's a great way to get someone else to organise all the nitty gritty details for you too!

Here is an easy comparison of what the top cruise lines offer and most importantly the costs involved

The average wedding cost includes the price of the cruise based on 2 adults sharing a balcony cabin on a 12 night Mediterranean Cruise (flights included where applicable), the wedding package, wedding license fee, photographs, hand held bridal flowers and one tier wedding cake.

Please note some of the cruise lines charge dollars onboard so these prices are correct as of 7 October when the prices where converted to pounds.

Did you get married at sea, or ever attended a cruise ship wedding? Maybe you're considering it? What do you think of these prices? Who do you think you'd book with?

Thursday, 13 October 2011

New campaign invites travelers to ‘Cruise Like a Norwegian’

Norwegian Cruise Line is attempting to reposition itself with a consumer-facing branding platform centered on the theme “Cruise Like a Norwegian.”

It’s a multifaceted campaign that rolls out Oct. 10 with network and cable TV commercials, digital advertising, new logos and social media components on Facebook.

The high-energy, some might say sexy, TV commercials aim to help coin the phrase used in the branding theme.

“Dine like a Parisian. Surf like a Hawaiian. Love like a Venetian. Party like a Brazilian. Cruise like a Norwegian,” the commercials declare.

Norwegian CEO Kevin Sheehan said the cruise line has spent the past four years on “a variety of initiatives” to improve and enhance the company and brand. “We felt this is the right time to issue this bold invitation to cruise with us by piquing interest and creating excitement around our brand,” he said.

“We believe this new brand platform will differentiate us and help clearly define a Norwegian cruise as one of the best vacations.”

Maria Miller, the line’s senior vice president of marketing, said the campaign’s slogan “is an invitation to those wanting to experience life in dynamic ways to come in and experience the brand.”

She added: “We are trying to broaden our demographic. ... It’s a bold, confident statement that presents the brand in a new way yet builds on our heritage.”

Miller noted that the launch of the Norwegian Epic, along with entertainment upgrades, helped open the line to more families and younger people in recent years. The new branding platform, she said, will put Norwegian “front and center” among consumers who have never cruised.

“This feels different than other cruise line advertising that’s out there. The core of what we’re trying to communicate is the breadth of experience we offer, the freedom and flexibility. Freestyle Cruising allows people to experience that,” Miller said.

The Facebook components of the rebranding launch include “Mix It Up,” an application that enables users to pair their own photos with the music featured in the “Cruise Like a Norwegian” ads, and an interactive quiz called “How Norwegian Are You?” The results will show how closely the user aligns with a Norwegian Cruise Line lifestyle.

The line also will reach out to agents in an effort to communicate what the new brand means to the frontline sale process.

Agent webinars will be offered, Miller said, and the line’s sales organization has materials they will distribute to retailers. Courses in NCL University will reflect the new brand philosophy.

She added that onboard elements include some changes to the line’s signature “White Hot Party” featured on every cruise.

“Some ‘Norwegian elements’ will be added to that,” said Miller, and the line’s crew members are being trained to “support and deliver the experiences we want our customers to have.”

The line for several months has been trying to move quietly away from “NCL” as an often-used abbreviation and toward “Norwegian” instead.

A spokeswoman for the line recently explained that the company wanted to focus on its “Norwegian roots” and no longer wished to be known by an abbreviation.

In the TV commercials, “NCL” appears once, and for just a split second, at the tail end of the ads.

Wednesday, 12 October 2011

Virgin unveils 'ground-breaking' jet fuel

Virgin Atlantic has claimed a breakthrough in low-carbon aviation with the development of a fuel it suggests will have half the carbon footprint of standard jet fuel.

The fuel is produced from reprocessed waste gases from industrial steel production. It has been developed in partnership with energy company LanzaTech.

The gases are captured, fermented and chemically converted for use as a jet fuel using Swedish Biofuels technology. The waste gases would normally be burnt into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.

Virgin Atlantic plans to operate flights using the fuel on routes from Shanghai and Delhi to Heathrow within two to three years.

The fuel will be produced in China and India. The technology is currently being tested in New Zealand. A demonstration facility is due to be commissioned in Shanghai this year and the first commercial operation should begin in China by 2014.

LanzaTech suggests the process could be applied to 65 % of the world’s steel mills, allowing the fuel to be developed for worldwide commercial use. The company believes the process could also apply to metals processing and chemical industries.

"With oil running out, it is important that new fuel solutions are sustainable, and with the steel industry alone able to deliver over 15 billion gallons of jet fuel annually, the potential is very exciting. This new technology is scalable, sustainable and can be commercially produced at a cost comparable to conventional jet fuel."

Virgin Atlantic will be the first airline to use the fuel and will work with LanzaTech, Boeing and Swedish Biofuels towards achieving the technical approval required. A ‘demo’ flight with the new fuel is planned in 12-18 months.

Heathrow owner slashes debt through stake sale

Ferrovial, the Spanish majority owner of BAA, has sold almost 6% of the UK's leading airports operator for €325 million in a move that slashes its debt burden.

The sale to investment group Alinda Capital Partners leaves infrastructure company Ferrovial with a 49.99% holding in BAA, owner of Heathrow, Stansted, Glasgow and Edinburgh airports.

The sale of the 5.9% stake, less than an originally planned 10%, implied a total value for BAA of €5.52 billion (£4.7 billion), substantially less than the £10.3 billion Ferrovial paid for the airport operator in 2006. However, it is more than 2.5 times the value analysts have placed on BAA.

The company has already recouped £1.5 billion from the sale of Gatwick airport two years ago.

Ferrovial chief executive Iñigo Meirás Amusco said: “We wanted to put a real market value on BAA, as before it was low and now we have value more than double market expectations."

By trimming its shareholding below 50%, Ferrovial will be allowed to remove BAA debts from its accounts, cutting its net debt from €19.7 billion to €5.2 billion.

BAA is poised to announce which of Edinburgh or Glasgow airports it is to sell following a ruling by the Competition Commission. It remains under an order to dispose of Stansted, but has lodged a further appeal.

The operator sold Gatwick in 2009 for £1.5 billion to a consortium led by Global Infrastructure Partners ahead of being ordered to do so by the Competition Commission.

Hurricane Jova bears down on Mexico's Pacific coast

A major hurricane is threatening resorts along Mexico’s Pacific coast, bringing winds of more than 130mph.

Oct 11, 2011 08:00AM GMT

Hurricane Jova has strengthened to Category 3 and could reach Category 4 on Tuesday before hitting land, the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami warned.

The forecast track would carry its centre near the beach resort of Barra de Navidad, south of Puerto Vallarta.

The Mexican government declared a hurricane warning for a 100-mile stretch of coast from just south of Puerto Vallarta to a point south of Manzanillo, one of Mexico's main cargo ports. A tropical storm warning is in effect further south, to the port of Lazaro Cardenas.

Authorities have closed the port of Manzanillo, the country's second largest non-oil cargo port, to all navigation as a safety measure.

Hotels in the hurricane's path are already taking precautions. Almost all the guests at the 199-room Grand Bay Hotel on Isla Navidad, just off the coast, are checking out.

The mountainous terrain inland usually weakens hurricanes like Jova fairly quickly once they hit land, but "maybe coastal flooding will be an issue", said National Hurricane Centre forecaster Felix Garcia.

Tuesday, 11 October 2011

Peter Max to paint Norwegian Breakaway’s hull

Renowned pop artist Peter Max, whose works are often sold on cruise ships, will paint a cruise ship.

Max will paint the hull of the Norwegian Breakaway, Norwegian Cruise Line’s 4,000-passenger ship scheduled for delivery in April 2013.

“I am a huge fan of his work and know that the art he creates for Norwegian Breakaway will make the ship instantly recognizable,” said Norwegian Cruise Line CEO Kevin Sheehan.

Max said he “loves painting large canvases.”

“I’ve painted a plane and a stage for Woodstock, but never a ship,” he said. “I love ships and have traveled on them many times in my life. To see my artwork floating on Norwegian Breakaway out at sea will be a dream come true.”

Monday, 10 October 2011

Tui Travel set for 'phenomenal' technological change

Tui Travel will push through "phenomenal" technological change as it bids to become an online-driven business, chief executive Peter Long told delegates at Abta’s Travel Convention.

Speaking in Palma while interviewing Iberostar boss Miguel Fluxa, Long described the online arena as fascinating, and warned convention attendees to ignore online “at your peril”.

He said: “We have a clear view of what we need to do at Tui and the journey involved. The pace of technological change we are going to see is phenomenal. We want to be an online driven business and have a long way to go.”

Long also talked about the importance of gaining new customers outside its traditional markets:

“Geographical expansion is important to us given the volume of new consumers in emerging markets.”

Fluxa said it was as important as ever for tour operators and hoteliers to work closely together and to avoid online business damaging those relationships.

He revealed that of the growing online business Iberostar gets just 20% is from consumers. The rest is B2B, for example from agents dynamic packaging with low cost flights.

Fluxa also pointed out that passengers on low cost flights are not necessarily low quality clients in terms of spend – many are trying to channel as much money as possible into the quality of accommodation.

And said quality of service would improve as those who work in hotels have realised, more than ever due to difficult economic times, that the guests are the key to their livelihoods.

Sunday, 9 October 2011

MSC Collects €1M for Unicef

official Press Release

Great success for MSC Cruises’ Get on Board for Children initiative

MSC Cruises is proud to announce that a grand total of 1 million euros has been collected so far for the Get on Board for Children initiative in support of a project promoting quality education development in Brazil.

The initiative, which relies on donations generously made by guests cruising aboard all 11 passenger liners in the MSC Cruises’ fleet, was introduced in 2009 as part of a three-year partnership agreement with UNICEF and the UNICEF Urban Platform Initiative project in Brazil. The project aims to help address the structural and social inequalities in 94 favelas in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Itaquaquecetuba.

By joining the initiative, MSC Cruises has demonstrated its deep commitment to the promotion of equal opportunities for children and adolescents through the provision of access to quality education.

The project is currently on the homestretch of the initiative’s first cycle, in which governments, non-governmental organizations, communities, families and adolescents have pulled together to give an even stronger boost to reaching the goals initially established by municipalities and communities at the beginning of the project.

In terms of education for instance, municipal schools from Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo have launched a monitoring process to assess the implementation of Law 10639/03 which requires the inclusion of Afro-Brazilian and Indigenous history and culture in all official school curriculums. The objective is to expand the number of schools implementing the law in order to foster racial equality and in so doing provide children and adolescents with quality education. This is precisely what MSC Cruises is committed to.

“1 million euros represents a major milestone in our fund raising effort and we are honoured, together with our valued passengers who have so generously supported this initiative, to actively participate in providing quality education to children and adolescents in the most destitute of Brazilian favelas. I am proud of the significant achievements reached so far. While I appreciate that we must progress one step at a time to succeed in our endeavour to drastically help improve access to quality education in Brazil, I am confident that our objectives will be achieved”, said MSC Cruises CEO Pierfrancesco Vago.

Get on Board for Children
MSC Cruises’ guests are invited to Get on Board for Children and make a difference by offering a small donation in addition to their cruise fare. This can be as little as €1 which can simply be added to the bill at the end of their cruise.

Soft Drinks Package Prices -- Cruiseline Comparison 2011

Most cruiselines offer you the chance to buy a drinks package to save on cost of buying drinks individually. Over the next few weeks we're going to give you the chance to compare everyone's packages. This week soft drinks are on the table.

Soft drinks packages are particularly useful for parents taking children on board - and for those of you who don't drink a great deal of alcohol of course

We've worked out that the average price of soft drinks on board is about £2.00 per glass so if you drink a lot, the bill can soon creep up!

Here's a rundown of what everyone charges, and more importantly, what you get for your money...

Have you ever bought a soft drinks package? What do you think of the above deals? Any surprises?

Cruise market will see 'modest growth' in 2012, says PSA

The growth in the number of British cruise passengers is to slow to just 1% next year, the Passenger Shipping Association has admitted.

This represents a slowdown from a projected increase of 5% this year and almost 6% in 2010.

Figures released at the Travel Convention in Palma show an estimated 1.73 million passengers will take a cruise holiday next year, a rise of just over 1% on this year’s forecast figure of 1.71 million passengers.

PSA director Bill Gibbons attributed the slowdown to fewer new ships entering service in 2012.

“Looking forward, we anticipate modest growth in 2012 as capacity slows following the reduction in the number of new ships being built,” he said.

“However, we remain confident that growth will continue over the coming years as companies introduce new ships including the 3,611 passenger vessel for P&O Cruises, the largest in their fleet, due for introduction in early 2015.

“The great choice of ships now providing cruise holidays from the UK to a wide variety of destinations will lead to more passengers sailing from British ports.”

The figures show that a record number of passengers are expected to depart on cruises from the UK in 2012 at 835,000, against 760,000 this year.

Gibbons added: “Cruising is expected to continue to outperform other areas of the holiday market with travel agents, who account for around 80% of sales, continuing to play an important role.”

The PSA expected seven new ships to enter service in 2012 for companies such as Carnival Cruises Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Costa Cruises, MSC Cruises, Disney Cruise Line and Oceania Cruises.

NCL’s Norwegian Breakaway to sail from New York year-round

By Johanna Jainchill and Jerry Limone

NEW YORK — The Norwegian Breakaway will sail from New York year-round when the ship enters service in the spring of 2013, Norwegian Cruise Line said Thursday.

The 4,000-passenger ship will operate seven-day Bermuda cruises from May 12 to Oct. 6 in 2013. These cruises are scheduled to go on sale to members of Latitudes (Norwegian’s loyalty program) on Oct. 14, 2011, and to everyone else on Oct. 17.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the Norwegian Breakaway deployment is "great news for our city." (Watch video below.)

"It boils down to one word: Jobs," he said. "Once in service in 2013, the ship will bring 70,000 additional visitors to our city every single year. That translates into $17.5 million in direct spending and will support hundreds of thousand of jobs up and down the economic ladder."

We’ve had a longstanding relationship with New York," said Norwegian Cruise Line CEO Kevin Sheehan. "In 2003 we were the first modern-day cruise line to homeport in the Big Apple, with the Norwegian Dawn. We are continuing our commitment to New York, homeporting our biggest ship yet here."
Norwegian hasn’t announced the Breakaway’s itineraries for the rest of the year, but the ship presumably will be sailing Caribbean or Bahamas/Florida cruises from New York’s Manhattan Cruise Terminal.

The Breakaway’s Bermuda cruises will depart on Sundays and spend three full days in Bermuda and three days at sea. The Breakaway will replace the Norwegian Star, which will begin sailing Bermuda cruises from New York in 2012.

Currently under construction at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany, the Breakaway is scheduled for delivery in April 2013, and will begin its New York deployment following inaugural events.

Norwegian said the ship will be the largest ever to call New York home.

Fire Breaks Out aboard Queen Mary 2

A small fire broke out in an engine room aboard Cunard's Queen Mary 2 on Wednesday.

Cruises.co.uk member SolentRichard, Lee On Solent was on board whilst the incident occured - he gave his account of what happened:

"The actual time was minutes around 8.00pm and Solent Richard plus wife were 15 minutes into the Senior Officer’s Cocktail Party in the Queens Room, usual glass of champagne in hand, when the first ‘assessment’ broadcast was made.

Within minutes there was another broadcast to summon the crew emergency teams to the scene of the incident. Most officer’s left to attend their stations but the party definitely continued and the pianist continued to play.

By 8.15 the Captain made a broadcast to say that the fire had been in the exhaust lagging of the Gas Turbine and was now safely extinguished. There was an element of the surreal as gusts at the party continued to down champagne while many crew members either busied themselves or began to muster at their ‘stations’ dressed in their life jackets. Waiting staff were soon back at full strength and the party continued till 9.00pm.

By way of a small anecdote, the Entertainment Director, Ray Rouse, joined our group prior to the end of the party with a great one liner: “ First time in 37 years I have worn a life jacket over a DJ”

The whole incident was an pertinent lesson in the calmness and confident manner that the officers and crew conducted themselves in the true traditions of British seafaring. There was never any mention of the passengers needing to return to staterooms to collect their life jackets and no mention of lifeboats."

The fire was caused by one of the ship's gas turbines -- they augment power to the ship's main quartet of diesel turbines, allowing the ship to travel at a higher maximum speed (some 30 knots).

Eric Flounders, UK spokesman for Cunard confirmed: "Neither passengers nor crew were adversely affected, and neither was the operation of the ship".

Virgin Holidays opens first outlets in Sainsbury's

Oct 04, 2011 07:00AM GMT

Virgin Holidays has opened its first ‘concession stores’ in two Sainsbury’s supermarkets and plans to open more over the next five months.

The concessions – located in Sainsbury’s in Merton High Street, south London and Cromwell Road, Kensington – are the latest stage of the company’s growing retail network, which is expected to reach 100 shops by March 2012.

The operator currently has 77 retail outlets across the UK, which represents an increase of 50% since this time last year.

It plans to increase this by a further 53 stores by next March, and has recently also opened limited–duration pop up shops in Dorking and Alton.

Almost 20,000 customers have booked using one of its shops in the past 12 months, the company claims.

Touch screen technology and multi-media displays are employed in each Sainsbury’s concession to help users research holiday options, alongside a range of brochures.

A dedicated area for children is included to allow parents discuss their choices with travel staff.

Virgin Holidays customer director Mark Anderson said: “Our research has shown us that there is a real appetite amongst customers for face-to-face contact with someone when booking their holiday.

“Our concession stores bring the Virgin Holidays brand to life like never before, and give shoppers the chance to buy their dream holiday in an environment they’re comfortable in – as well as giving them ample opportunity to discuss options, ask questions and consider their choices before purchasing."

Sainsbury assets and estates director Matt Birch added: “We are always looking for new ways to meet the needs of our customers so we are delighted that Virgin Holidays is the latest exciting brand to open a concession in our stores.

“Like Sainsbury’s colleagues, Virgin Holiday’s travel experts have a passion for great customer service so I have no doubt that these concessions will be a real hit with our customers over the coming months.”

Carnival to spend $500 million on new restaurants, entertainment

Carnival Cruise Lines has launched Fun Ship 2.0, a $500 million multiyear project that will add dining venues, bars, lounges and entertainment options across most of its fleet.

Carnival's new branded spaces will include the RedFrog Rum Bar, BlueIguana Tequila Bar and three other themed bars and lounges, as well as the BlueIguana Cantina casual restaurant.

The line has partnered with several celebrities for new entertainment and cuisine choices.

Entertainer George Lopez will become Carnival’s creative director for comedy and will enhance comedy clubs; Food Network star Guy Fieri will develop a burger venue called Guy’s Burger Joint; and video game manufacturer EA Sports will create the first EA Sports Bar at sea.

Additionally, Hasbro is partnering with Carnival on “larger-than-life game shows” featuring iconic games and brands. Miami's DJ Irie was named Carnival's official DJ.

The Carnival Liberty will be the first ship to feature many of the new restaurants and bars when it returns from a scheduled refurbishment later this month. Fourteen ships are scheduled to receive many of the Fun Ship 2.0 enhancements through 2015.

"Fun Ship 2.0 is the largest and most ambitious initiative that our company has ever undertaken and it will serve to significantly transform the Carnival vacation experience for our guests," said Carnival CEO Gerry Cahill.

"Through breakthrough partnerships with some of today’s biggest talents and most popular entertainment brands, plus our very own new branded experiences and onboard destinations, Carnival fans and those new to our cruises are destined for an incredible vacation experience."

Admitting that the issue of online discounting was “deep-rooted in the trade”, he said it was something he wanted to immediately address once he started his new role this week.

“It’s been under review for some time because it’s all about being multiple-channelled and any tension between those channels is a problem if we are trying to say that Kuoni is all about great service.

“Customers find it jarring if they go into a shop having researched online and then have to effectively start negotiating on price. It’s plainly ridiculous to have agents having to compete with our other distribution channels.”

Jones said the online discounts that had been available on Kuoni’s website had made agents cautious about using the site at all - even the special agents’ section.

“We’ve done so much with training and with working with so many good independent agents through Tipto and Travel Weekly’s Aspire luxury travel club but the online discount was the one thing that kept standing in the way. So as hard as we worked on all those other things for agents, we were never going to get the full benefit until we ditched it.”

Jones revealed Kuoni was adding new functionality to its trade site that would benefit agents.

“We have a dynamic calendar that gives agents the latest price on any date, but it will now also show them the availability left and also if there are any Kuoni Plus special deals to be had. It’s this kind of thing many agents have been missing out on because of the blockage caused by our online discount and they will hopefully now feel comfortable using our site.”

Jones said agents would probably get a chance to convert more sales from the move.

“Having looked at the mechanics, we only need to deliver a small increase in conversion from out independent partners to make it all work.”

Travel agents welcomed the move to drop the online discount, calling it “the best news the trade’s had in years”. They urged other operators such as Hayes & Jarvis and Virgin Holidays to follow suit.

Nick McKay, director of Clapham-based Travel Designers, said: “This will start to send out the message it’s not always about price.”

Dave Criddle Travel homeworker Lynne Fuell said: “I would like to see other larger operators doing the same thing.”

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Me Me Me and More About Me

I never wan't to go cruising but my brother did, and tried his best to get me on one of those things. Owning a Travel Agency in Wales i got very good at selling cruise holidays and researched them over and over. Costa Cruise offered us a 3 night cruise on Costa Mediterranea,Balcony cabin for only £50, and that was it Hooked.

I have my Favourite cruise companies and ones I'd use for a lifeboat, if you know what I mean! I'm not a loyal cruiser to any one company, all the ones I sail one have their own good and better points, such as MSC for the decor, no fake marble to be seen and by far the best looking ships in any fleet.

My Blogs (http://wetravel2u.wordpress.com/ and http://wetravel2ucruise.blogspot.co.uk/) try to tell the story of cruising from a travel agents and fan, informing the latest news about the cruise vessels and any relevant news about agent selling offers. I also have a link to my Flickr account showing not just cruise photos but my holiday pics. onboard and on shore, so please look at them and enjoy; if you want please comment as well.